Recreational vehicles (RV's) can advantageously be equipped with an awning. Awnings provide shelter, partly from wind but mainly from rain and sun light. It also provides for an extended comfort zone, or extended living area, although with some limitations. In windy or cold weather conditions, it is sometimes not sufficient to rely on an awning only to provide a comfortable and extended living area outside of the RV or caravan, some occasions may require a tent.
Tents are per se frequently used to provide comfortable extended living areas outside of RV's and caravans. Not many solutions however combine the advantages and existing structures of awnings with tents. An attempt to take advantage of an awning assembly is disclosed in the publication of DE19943944A1, Brutsaert Accessories N.V., in which an awning assembly is disclosed. The awning assembly comprises an awning, a leading rail and two support arms for extracting and retracting the awning. A supplementary tent can be mounted to the awning via two bars extending between the caravan and the leading rail. The solution is not very elegant as it requires additional bars and does not permit the use of the whole length of the awning assembly, hence the tent is relatively limited in size.
The European patent EP 0,657,323 B1 discloses an awning assembly comprising an awning arranged between a roller tube and a leading rail. A pair of support arms enables the leading rail and the awning to be extracted and retracted. The leading rail comprises a lower C channel disposed on the edge of the leading rail for hanging plants, lights, and screen rooms. The solution is however silent of how the advantages of an awning can be combined with the advantages of a tent.